<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>seven years old. by GlassBeetle</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23526763">seven years old.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlassBeetle/pseuds/GlassBeetle'>GlassBeetle</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Childhood, F/F, F/M, Families of Choice, On the Run, Unrequited Crush</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:01:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23526763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlassBeetle/pseuds/GlassBeetle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of Luke, Annabeth has a crush on Thalia. (set pre pjo.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Thalia Grace, Luke Castellan &amp; Annabeth Chase &amp; Thalia Grace, Luke Castellan/Thalia Grace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>seven years old.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Idk what this is, but I wanted it so I wrote it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In the right lighting, Thalia's black hair looked midnight blue. Annabeth sometimes wondered if it was, it wouldn't be out of character for the girl to dye it so. But she never ended up asking. Everytime she was pushed to, she felt the words weigh down on her tongue like weights. Annabeth thinks it looks pretty on her anyways, and she wants to tell the older girl this too, but refrains.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Luke Castellan has no such restraints with Thalia Grace. When they think she's sleeping, she sees Luke running his fingers over Thalia's scarred knuckles in the campfire's low light. They're murmuring to themselves in low voices, lips practically kissing the other's ears, that much she can see. "Your hair looks good like this." He tells her, and she blushes, and it looks weird on her. She'd just trimmed her hair again, cutting it somehow shorter than it was before. Annabeth doesn't like the blush on her face, doesn't like the way Luke is looking at her. It makes a warm, ugly feeling rear in her gut.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Thalia Grace makes Annabeth feel like a kid. She ruffles her blonde curls with proud smiles, and brushes the overgrown bangs on her forehead out of her face when she sleeps, just when she thinks the younger girl can't see her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it's different. Because Luke Castellan makes Annabeth feel like a kid, but never like Thalia does. Luke Castellan gives her toothy grins and daggers, and makes her laugh. But Thalia makes her stomach flutter, like she's sick or something. She makes Annabeth want to be strong, funny, like Luke Castellan. She makes Annabeth want to grow up. Luke's grown up, he holds them together. He's the glue of their weird trio, and sometimes feels like the leader. But Thalia never lets him have that for a minute. She's strong, capable, maybe more of a leader than him. In the end, no matter how smart and quick she is, Annabeth's just a kid to them. Luke's older than Thalia, but maybe not smarter. She furrows her brows when she catches Annabeth staring at them, and sometimes she can swear the girl knows she's secretly awake. Annabeth thinks Thalia's cooler.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> Annabeth is smart. She's clever, but the right words just never seem to come out when she's with Thalia. She sounds stupid, and it frustrates her beyond anything, because all she wants is to make Thalia think she's smart too. She wants to find the magic words. And the girl does think she's smart, because Annabeth's proved herself far beyond her years would suggest, but the need for her attention still makes her want to peel her skin off, if only so she would notice her. The last time she'd felt this desperate had been when spiders had crawled into the corners of her mouth, and she'd screamed for her father. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe there is no right thing to say to Thalia. It's been months, and Annabeth's found her family. In Luke she finds her brother, in Thalia her sister. She's happier than she's ever been, but in all the ways she wants to be in, she's only looking through glass. She starts to wonder if there's anything to say to Thalia, any combination of words that's just right, that will make Thalia fill whatever Annabeth's looking for. She starts to think there isn't. Luke still holds Thalia's hand in the dark, but he holds Annabeth's too. He still strokes her hair in her sleep, but he strokes Annabeth's too now. They are together, but it's only become more obvious to her just how divided the group dynamics were. Thalia doesn't kiss her cheek, or blush at anything she says. She never bites her lip to hold back laughter at something particularly ridiculous she says. She doesn't give her those same eyes she has for him, not that same smile. And Annabeth doesn't know why she wants it anyways. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Fighting is built into Annabeth by this point. She's different from other children. She's spent her childhood chased by monsters, running away with sons and daughters of gods, being rejected wholly by her mortal family. Her brain is wired different too. So fighting comes easy. (She later learns it always does for demigods, how else would they survive the terrible trauma?) It's been a year, a couple months over, but the harsh cold hasn't let up yet. It's a chance encounter, nobody expects it, and Annabeth leaves with a gash the size of two of her index fingers piled together on her knee. It bleeds horribly, and it's not the first time it's happened, but Thalia kneels down and ties it up for her anyways. There's a tenderness in her eyes the girl's never seen before, and maybe she's just a kid, but she likes to think this is how Luke feels. She pats her head like she's done something good, and gently kisses the cut before bandaging it, like she's her mom or something. And Annabeth has a million different retorts about how gross that is, how easily disease can spread like that, but they fall away under her small smile. "All better." Thalia says when she's done. It's not professional in the least bit, and if Annabeth's honest, not a very good job, but Annabeth smiles and thanks her anyway.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's seven months into 2001, and her birthday's here. It's the 12th of July, and she wakes up to an overly happy Luke leaning over her. She doesn't even recall telling them about her birthday, but she must have, because they're all smiles and birthday wishes that day. She almost wishes it would last forever, but she's smart enough to know nothing lasts forever, and to save her wishes for things she really needs. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There's no fancy cake, or candles, but Luke squeezes his eyes shut and takes her hand in his, and tells her to wish. She shuts her's too, and for a blissful moment, her mind is blank. She wishes for this moment to be immortalized throughout her life. She wishes for there to always be someone to love her, for there to always be someone to love. It's a hefty wish for an 8 year old, but it's the wish she makes. When she cracks her eyes open, she's still there, and Luke let's go of her hand in favor of the new shirt he bestows onto her. Thalia grins with pride, and the faded logo of an old rock band plastered on plain gray falls into her lap, 'ATHENA' written in bright yellow across the shirt. Annabeth smiles and slips into it, and it smells like home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>